The Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı, aka Ayasofya Haseki Hamamı, is a Turkish hamam that was commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I's consort, Hürrem Sultan, and constructed by Mimar Sinan during the 16th century in Istanbul. It was built on the site of historical Baths of Zeuxippus for the religious community of the nearby Hagia Sophia.ArchitectureThe public bath-house was constructed as a charity building by architect Mimar Sinan in 1556. The 75m long structure is designed in the style of classical Ottoman baths having two symmetrical separate sections for males and females. Both sections, situated in north-south direction, are on the same axis that was a novelty in the Turkish bath architecture. The men's section is in the north while the women's part is in the south.The exterior walls are built in courses of one cut stone and two bricks. The changing room of the men's section has four pointed-arch stained-glass windows above in the facade and the women's changing room has three windows.The entrances of both sections are apart. The entrance to the men's section is in the north and the women's in the west. Unlike in the architecture of other Turkish baths, there is a stoa with a dome in the center of the men's section's front side. The roofs of the dome and the stoa are decorated with bricks, and covered by lead sheet material. A red and a white palmette with a golden epigraph on green ground ornament the pointed arch of the monumental entrance door.

The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving.The word hippodrome comes from the Greek hippos, horse, and dromos, path or way. For this reason, it is sometimes also called Atmeydanı in Turkish. Horse racing and chariot racing were popular pastimes in the ancient world and hippodromes were common features of Greek cities in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras.History and useAlthough the Hippodrome is usually associated with Constantinople's days of glory as an imperial capital, it actually predates that era. The first Hippodrome was built when the city was called Bysantium, and was a provincial town of moderate importance. In AD 203 the Emperor Septimius Severus rebuilt the city and expanded its walls, endowing it with a hippodrome, an arena for chariot races and other entertainment.In AD 324, the Emperor Constantine the Great decided to move the seat of the government from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Nova Roma (New Rome). This name failed to impress and the city soon became known as Constantinople, the City of Constantine. Constantine greatly enlarged the city, and one of his major undertakings was the renovation of the Hippodrome. It is estimated that the Hippodrome of Constantine was about 450m long and 130m wide. Its stands were capable of holding 100,000 spectators.

GENERAL INFORMATION
The Blue Mosque (Called Sultanahmet Camii in Turkish) is an historical mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is known as the Blue Mosque because of blue tiles surrounding the walls of interior design.Mosque was built between 1609 and 1616 years, during the rule of Ahmed I. just like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasa and a hospice.Besides still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction in Istanbul.
Besides being tourist attraction, it's also a active mosque, so it's closed to non worshippers for a half hour or so during the five daily prayers.
Best way to see great architecture of the Blue Mosque is to approach it from the Hippodrome. (West side of the mosque) As if you are non-Muslim visitor, you also have to use same direction to enter the Mosque.
How To Visit Blue Mosque ?
Tourists always wonder how to visit Blue Mosque.There is also many other questions such as if there is any entrance fee,dress code, where to put my shoes etc.Here below is the answers of all these simple questions...
1) Plan your visit to the Sultanahmet area of Istanbul, so that you better arrive mid morning. Pray happens five times a day with the first call to prayer at sunrise and the last one at nightfall.The mosque closes for 90 minutes at each pray time.Avoid visiting a mosque at pray time (Especially Midday praying on Friday) or within a half hour after the ezan is chanted from the Mosque minarets.
2) Before step in to Mosque, take off your shoes and put in plastic bags provided at the entrance(Free of Charge). This is required of all persons as part of Muslim tradition when entering a mosque. There is also no charge to enter the Blue Mosque.
3) If you are women wear a head covering when entering to Blue Mosque.Head coverings are available at the Blue Mosque entrance for free. Place the fabric cover on top of your head with equal portions hanging on both sides. Take one side and wrap it around your neck, tossing it behind your back with covering your shoulders. Don't cover your face, the covering is meant to hide your hair only.
4) When you are inside the mosque, remain quiet and don't use flash photography.Since this is a place of worship, avoid staring or taking picture of those who are praying.Visit the mosque respectfully and quietly.At the Mosque exit, you can put used plastic bags in designated bin bags and return head covers to duty staff.
5) You can do donation to help maintain the Mosque at the exit door.It is not compulsory, but if you make donation you will get the official receipt for it.
PRAYER TIMES
Muslims pray five times a day according to the basic tenets of Islam.The timings of these prayers are
spaced fairly throughout the day, so that one is constantly reminded of Allah and gives opportunities to seek His guidance and forgiveness.
Muslim call to prayer (Ezan) is chanted six times a day.The exact time of the ezan changes each day due to rotation of the earth,revolution around the sun,various latitudes of the earth's locations and daylight savings time.Therefore Islamic prayer times were not set based on clock but traditionally set according to the movement of the sun.These timings being advised by The Presidency of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Turkey.
Here below is the names of the calls-prayers in Turkish and Arabic.
1) Imsak / Fajr - Two hours before dawn
2) Güneş /Tulu - Dawn
3) Ögle / Zuhr - Midday
4) Ikindi / Asr - Afternoon
5) Aksam / Maghrib - Sunset
6) Yatsi / Isha - Right before last light of the day get disappeared

En çok ziyaret edilen müzeler arasında yer alan Ayasofya; sanat ve mimarlık tarihi bakımından dünyanın en önde gelen anıtlardan biri olup, dünyanın 8. harikası olarak gösterilmektedir. Bugünkü Ayasofya aynı yerde fakat öncekilerinden farklı bir mimari anlayışla yapılmış olan üçüncü yapıdır. Bu yapı, İmparator Justinianos tarafından (527-565) dönemin iki önemli Mimarı olan Tralles'li (Aydın) Anthemios ile Miletos'lu (Balat) İsidoros'a yaptırılmıştır. 916 yıl kilise olan yapı, 1453 Yılında Fatih Sultan Mehmed tarafından İstanbul'un fethiyle camiye çevrilerek, 482 yıl cami olarak kullanılmıştır. Atatürk'ün emri ve Bakanlar Kurulu'nun Kararı ile 1935 yılında Ayasofya müze olarak kapılarını ziyarete açmıştır.
Hagia Sophia is the one of the most visited museums and most prominent monuments in the world in terms of art and the history of architecture. The current Hagia Sophia is the third construction, done in a different architectural style, even though it occupies the same location as the previous two. The original building was constructed by the most important architects of the period (527-565), Anthemios (Tralles) and Isidoros (Miletus), under the order of Emperor Justinianos. It was used as a church for 916 years but, following the conquest of Istanbul by Fatih Sultan Mehmed, the Hagia Sophia was converted into mosque. Afterwards, it was used as a mosque for 482 years. Under the order of Atatürk and the decision of the Council of Ministers, Hagia Sophia was converted into a museum in 1935.

The Basilica Cistern, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The cistern, located southwest of the Hagia Sophia on the historical peninsula of Sarayburnu, was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.HistoryThe name of this subterranean structure derives from a large public square on the First Hill of Constantinople, the Stoa Basilica, beneath which it was originally constructed. Before being converted to a cistern, a great Basilica stood in its place, built between the 3rd and 4th centuries during the Early Roman Age as a commercial, legal and artistic centre. The basilica was reconstructed by Illus after a fire in 476.Ancient texts indicated that the basilica contained gardens, surrounded by a colonnade and facing the Hagia Sophia. According to ancient historians, Emperor Constantine built a structure that was later rebuilt and enlarged by Emperor Justinian after the Nika riots of 532, which devastated the city.Historical texts claim that 7,000 slaves were involved in the construction of the cistern.The enlarged cistern provided a water filtration system for the Great Palace of Constantinople and other buildings on the First Hill, and continued to provide water to the Topkapi Palace after the Ottoman conquest in 1453 and into modern times.

Hagia Sophia, "Holy Wisdom"; Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Ayasofya) was a Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal basilica (church), later an imperial mosque, and now a museum (Ayasofya Müzesi) in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its construction in 537 AD, and until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted by the Fourth Crusaders to a Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was later converted into an Ottoman mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have "changed the history of architecture". It remained the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520.

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. In 2014, it was listed No.1 among world's most-visited tourist attractions with 91,250,000 annual visitors. The Grand Bazar at Istanbul is often regarded as one of the first shopping malls of the world.LocationThe Grand Bazaar is located inside the walled city of Istanbul, in the district of Fatih and in the neighbourhood bearing the same name (Kapalıçarşı). It stretches roughly from west to east between the mosques of Beyazit and of Nuruosmaniye. The Bazaar can easily be reached from Sultanahmet and Sirkeci by trams (Beyazıt-Kapalıçarşı stop).

Landmark Near Sultanahmet

The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving.The word hippodrome comes from the Greek hippos, horse, and dromos, path or way. For this reason, it is sometimes also called Atmeydanı in Turkish. Horse racing and chariot racing were popular pastimes in the ancient world and hippodromes were common features of Greek cities in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras.History and useAlthough the Hippodrome is usually associated with Constantinople's days of glory as an imperial capital, it actually predates that era. The first Hippodrome was built when the city was called Bysantium, and was a provincial town of moderate importance. In AD 203 the Emperor Septimius Severus rebuilt the city and expanded its walls, endowing it with a hippodrome, an arena for chariot races and other entertainment.In AD 324, the Emperor Constantine the Great decided to move the seat of the government from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Nova Roma (New Rome). This name failed to impress and the city soon became known as Constantinople, the City of Constantine. Constantine greatly enlarged the city, and one of his major undertakings was the renovation of the Hippodrome. It is estimated that the Hippodrome of Constantine was about 450m long and 130m wide. Its stands were capable of holding 100,000 spectators.

The Galata Bridge is a bridge that spans the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. From the end of the 19th century in particular, the bridge has featured in Turkish literature, theater, poetry and novels.HistoryThe first recorded bridge over the Golden Horn in Istanbul was built during the reign of Justinian the Great in the 6th century, close to the area near the Theodosian Land Walls at the western end of the city.In 1453, during the Fall of Constantinople, the Turks assembled a mobile bridge by placing their ships side by side across the water, so that their troops could move from one side of the Golden Horn to the other.In the years 1502–1503, there were plans to construct the first bridge at the current location. Sultan Bayezid II solicited a design and Leonardo da Vinci, utilizing three well-known geometrical principles, the pressed-bow, parabolic curve and keystone arch, created an unprecedented single span 240 m long and 24 m wide bridge for the Golden Horn, which would have become the longest bridge in the world of that time, had it been constructed. However, the ambitious design was not approved by the Sultan.A smaller-scale version of Leonardo da Vinci's Golden Horn Bridge was brought to life in 2001 near Oslo, Norway by the contemporary artist Vebjørn Sand, the first civil engineering project based on a Leonardo da Vinci sketch to be constructed. The Leonardo Bridge Project hopes to build the design as a practical footbridge around the world, including the Golden Horn in Istanbul, using local materials and collaborating with local artisans as a global public art project. The Wall Street Journal referred to the Project as a "...logo for the nations."

The Galata Tower — called Christea Turris by the Genoese — is a medieval stone tower in the Galata/Karaköy quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, just to the north of the Golden Horn's junction with the Bosphorus. One of the city's most striking landmarks, it is a high, cone-capped cylinder that dominates the skyline and offers a panoramic vista of Istanbul's historic peninsula and its environs.DescriptionThe nine-story tower is 66.90 meters tall (62.59 m without the ornament on top, 51.65 m at the observation deck), and was the city's tallest structure when it was built. The elevation at ground level is 35 meters above sea-level. The tower has an external diameter of 16.45 meters at the base, an 8.95 meters diameter inside, and walls that are 3.75 meters thick.There is a restaurant and café on its upper floors which command a magnificent view of Istanbul and the Bosphorus. Also located on the upper floors is a night club which hosts a Turkish show. There are two operating elevators that carry visitors from the lower level to the upper levels.HistoryThe Romanesque style tower was built as Christea Turris (Tower of Christ) in 1348 during an expansion of the Genoese colony in Constantinople. Galata Tower was the tallest building in Istanbul at 219½ feet (66.9 m) when it was built in 1348. It was built to replace the old Tower of Galata, an original Byzantine tower named Megalos Pyrgos (English: Great Tower) which controlled the northern end of the massive sea chain that closed the entrance to the Golden Horn. That tower was on a different site and was largely destroyed in 1203, during the Fourth Crusade of 1202–1204.